Albatros acquires yet another publishing house
One of the Czech Republic’s biggest publishers, Albatros, has boosted its position on the market, taking over rival Panteon, which has the rights to the international bestseller the 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.
The Czech version of the sequel, called The Accidental Further Adventures of the Hundred-Year-Old Man, is due to be published by the Albatros Media Group in February 2019.
Albatros has established itself as a major player on the Czech publishing market. Last year, it had a consolidated turnover of 750 million crowns. Albatros has an estimated 17 percent share of the wholesale book market and releases around 2,000 books on the Czech market every year.
Panteon is the thirteenth publisher to have been purchased by Albatros Media Group in recent years. Among others, it recently bought the Vyšehrad, one of the oldest Czech publishing houses, established in 1934.
Recently, it has also acquired Kniha Zlín, which had the rights to the hit detective series by Norwegian author Jo Nesbo. Albatros also has the rights to books published by British author J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame and those by Disney, such as the Star Wars series.
Václav Kadlec, CEO of Albatros Media, said the recent acquisition is aimed at boosting the publisher’s position on the market for books aimed at adult readers.
Apart from its 16 publishing houses, Albatros also owns the electronic bookstores eRading.cz and Palmknihy. It has also branched out to the publication of technical and business books.
